Career InformationAs an EMS professional, you may work for an ambulance service, fire department, in tactical EMS, critical care transport, or as an emergency department technician. If you graduate with an AAS degree, you have additional career opportunities in administration and management in the pre-hospital field.

Salary ranges from $23,091.00 to $47,750.00

What Will I LearnThe EMS program will prepare you to enter the field of emergency medicine. We offer three levels of EMS education, Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Emergency Medical Technician- Intermediate (EMT-I) and Paramedic. The EMT is the entry level and the course will teach the basics of scene size up, patient assessment, and patient treatment. Having an EMT certification is a requirement for advancing into the next levels of EMS. The EMT-I has an expanded scope of practice with additional medications, assessment and treatment. The Paramedic level is the highest recognized in Colorado for an out of hospital emergency medical personnel. The Paramedic has a higher level of training in patient assessment, pathophysiology, diagnostics and treatment. The EMT-I and Paramedic programs also include cards in ACLS and PALS. Each of these levels has a national exam and a state certification process. The EMT, EMT Intermediate and Paramedic programs require a background check and drug screen before admittance.

Certificate Option The EMT – Enhanced Certificate includes the courses for EMT certification as well as additional courses to advance the EMTs scope of practice and to open more employment opportunities. The Enhanced certificate includes courses in intravenous therapy, EKG recognition and an EMS field internship. This certificate will open employment opportunities in hospital emergency departments and telemetry departments as well as an EMS agency or fire department. View Program Curriculum.

Our Experienced FacultyThe PCC EMS faculty are all experienced advanced level EMS providers who have worked in many different EMS agencies both urban and rural This gives our programs a depth of knowledge and experience. Our instructors also have many years of EMS education experience and are great at helping students in the classroom and clinical setting. The program medical director has received commendation from the Committee of Accreditation for EMS program site visitors for providing an exceptional level of physician student interaction in the paramedic program.

Our Cutting Edge FacilitiesThe EMS program at Pueblo Community College has up to date equipment and facilities. This includes a simulator lab with high tech manikins for real to life simulations in baby delivery and care, patient assessment and treatment. There is also an ambulance simulator for practice in packaging, moving and caring for patients in an ambulance environment.

The Pueblo Community College Emergency Medical Services Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs ( www.caahep.org) upon the recommendation of the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the EMS Professions (CoAEMSP); Website: www.coaemsp.org.

THC (marijuana) is part of the required 10-panel drug screen prior to admittance into any Health Professions or Public Safety program at PCC. The passage of Amendment 64 in the State of Colorado, does not overrule Federal law, which states this is still an illegal substance. Students testing positive for THC (marijuana) will not be allowed entrance or re-entrance into a Health or Public Safety program.

Spotlight

The EMT certificate will be changing from a 10 credit hour
certificate to a 12 credit hour certificate starting in the fall of 2017. This increase was made necessary by the increased scope of practice for EMTs in
Colorado. Please call Ann Flores at 719-549-3477 for more information.